


exhaustion

by greedlings



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, based after jons impromptu surgery and before daisy was saved from the buried, pretty much just fluff, what the girlfriends week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedlings/pseuds/greedlings
Summary: Melanie's afternoons are spent resting; the strain of her job drains all of the life out of her, it feels like.But it's noting The Admiral can't help with.
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Melanie King
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22
Collections: What the Girlfriends Week 2020





	exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> happy what the girlfriends week! i'm already a day behind haha... but this is my fic for day one! i used the prompts pets and regret, but mostly pets LMAO.
> 
> i'd just like to say a big thank you to the people who organized this event!! this is gonna be super fun, and i'm so excited to see everyone's contributions through the week <3 and if you'd like to check the page out and see everyone's contributions go check out @/wtgfsweek on twitter!

Melanie fell backward onto the couch, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as she did. She let her head rest on the soft back of the couch; it was lower than comfortable, her neck quickly growing sore under the strain, but she had no energy left to move her body. The gentle hum of Georgie’s kitchen appliances gave a sort of motion to the silence of the apartment, as if she could  _ hear _ every invisible particle that danced through the air, and Melanie sat quietly in it. 

It seemed to be almost a ritual at this point; Melanie came home, exhausted in every way she could think, and she’d simply sit. Rest. Her neck and back suffered for it, of course, but it was a moment of quiet and calm that she desperately needed. 

The quiet was broken by the gentle tapping of claws against the linoleum, and Melanie found enough energy to pull a soft grin onto her lips. She even mustered enough energy to, when The Admiral let out a long, sad  _ meow _ , laugh gently.

“What’s wrong?” Melanie called back. When she didn’t receive an answer, she forced her head off of the back of the couch. Slowly, she scanned the apartment for The Admiral.

He was by the fridge, his head cocked slightly and his eyes wide. Melanie smiled weakly, “Come here, mister.”

The Admiral didn’t seem to hesitate once Melanie called him. As he grew closer, Melanie could hear him purring softly. She reached her hand towards the cat, and he pushed his face against Melanie’s outstretched fingers.

“Just looking for some attention, huh?” Melanie asked. The Admiral didn’t respond, but Melanie took his soft purrs as confirmation enough. He pushed himself against Melanie’s hand again and Melanie watched.

“You have it easy, you know.” The Admiral seemed to stop as Melanie said this, then sat back on his legs, preparing to hop up onto the couch beside Melanie. As he made the leap, Melanie continued, “You don’t have to worry about work or money or fear gods, huh?” She gently scratched the underside of The Admiral’s chin, and his purring intensified. Melanie smiles again, then continued, “I bet you aren’t afraid of anything. Except for your food bowl being empty, of course.” Gently, she laughed, both at her comment and the tone of her voice; she sounded like she was talking to a  _ baby _ , but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from talking in that childish tone.

She wondered if she would have been able to enjoy this under the Slaughter’s influence. At the thought, Melanie’s throat tightened, and she decided to put those thoughts out of her mind.

“You like that, huh?” Melanie said, rubbing the back of her finger on the underside of The Admiral’s chin; his purring was so intense that Melanie could feel it in the couch, and she shook her head with a smile.

The latch of the door made a small sound, and Melanie watched with a smile as Georgie walked into her apartment. “Does The Admiral make good conversation?” she joked as she placed a small bag of groceries on the counter.

“Certainly better than most people I talk to nowadays,” Melanie mumbled.

“So the institute is still pretty quiet then?”

Melanie laughed sharply, “Martin barely even shows his face anymore, and when he does it’s  _ pretty clear _ that he’d rather be doing anything other than socialize. Basira was never one to socialize anyways, and now that I’m not  _ useful _ anymore-.”

“Oh, don’t talk like that.”

“Well, according to Basira I’m not,” Melanie grumbled, then rolled her eyes, “Helen is… okay, I guess, but she’s still not  _ human _ .”

“And you’re still not talking to Jon?”

“No. Do you expect me to?”

“Of course not, Melanie.”

Melanie sighed, “I just wish I’d listened to Martin. He was there when Elias offered me the job, you know, tried to warn me.”

“Well, you’ll find a way out, I’m sure. You’re too stubborn to not.”

Slowly, Melanie let her shoulders relax, “Yeah, I will. I’ll do anything I need to to get out of that wretched place.”

“For now, though, would you like to help me with supper?”

Melanie looked down at The Admiral, now curled up in Melanie’s lap, and sighed. “I suppose I should.”

Georgie looked over and, noticing her cat curled up in her girlfriend’s lap, laughed, “The Admiral  _ is _ pretty persuasive.”

As gently as she could, Melanie wrapped her hands around The Admiral’s body and lifted him slowly from her lap. He glared at her as she did. Melanie placed him on the cushion beside her and moved to stand; The Admiral placed a paw on Melanie’s thigh, staring up at her with the saddest eyes Melanie had ever seen.

“I thought the term was  _ puppy dog eyes _ ,” Melanie said, scratching the top of The Admiral’s head with a smile as she rose

“He’s pretty good at those,” Georgie said with a gentle laugh, then turned her head towards The Admiral, “But you can get pets later.”

The Admiral meowed sadly before hopping off of the couch and trudged across the room to his bed. Melanie shook her head, watching as he curled up and laid down with the closest thing a cat can have to a sigh. Then, she turned back around and walked into the kitchen to help Georgie.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated <3
> 
> you can find me on tumblr @/greecllings or on twitter @/greedlings_ !


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